4 Employee Types – Understanding and Managing different personalities in the workplace

Dealing with different types of personalities can be a struggle especially if you don’t know how to recognize their traits and weak points.

Every person has a unique character obviously and if you add cultural, religious and gender differences into the mix, things may get messy. This is especially true in the office environment where employees are obligated to cooperate with each other in a way that brings out positive results.

Understanding and dealing with different personality types in the workplace is crucial if you want to improve productivity and create effective teams.

Moreover, as a leader, even though you are expected to treat everyone the same, this may turn out to be counterproductive as what works with one might not work with another.

We don’t imply that you should favor some and underestimate others, by any means; However, it is important to understand that motivation, inspiration and effective leadership are intrinsic concepts that heavily depend on the individual personalities in the workplace.

Understanding and managing different personalities in the workplace are important for your small business

It is every team leader’s dream to cultivate a drama-free atmosphere in the office, where everyone knows their place while feeling free to express their creative selves.

In order to harvest all the advantages of working with people of different personality types, you must first accept that no one is hard-wired to communicate with others in their personality type. And this is the root cause of all professional, and personal, conflicts.

Once you comprehend this simple concept you will become more tolerant of other people’s behaviors and try to reach out to them in their way, not yours. The next step to becoming the leader you’ve always wanted is learning and adapting to different work personality types.

This process will help you manage your team better by understanding each person’s individual traits and adjust their duties accordingly. In that way, you will watch their talents blossom and their weak aspects diminishing day by day.

In this article, we are going to provide you with some personality management tips in identifying personality traits differences in the workplace.

4 different personality types of employees

The Ambitious and amiable

This type of employee is smart, eager to learn and can get along well with the rest of the personality types because they don’t like conflict. They are well-balanced individuals that aim for success without losing their sense of humor in the process. They also work well under pressure and can inspire others to follow due to their extroverted personality.

Furthermore, their ambition to move higher on the professional ladder makes them come up with innovative ideas that can greatly benefit your company!

Managing this personality type is relatively easy, however, always be on the look-out for inaccuracies as this kind of employees might lack attention to detail. Finally, their aversion to conflict can sometimes prove to be a weakness, as respectful conflicts in the workplace are part of the collaboration process as well.

The Ηighly-functional Ιntrovert

Introverts as though they may be, they are your company’s pillars. They have probably been in the company long enough to know all the intricacies of their work and are fairly experienced in what they do. This personality type is quiet but always pleasant to be around. They are always focused on their tasks and take their job seriously – in essence, they love what they do and want to get it right.

Even though they are very thorough and reliable, their role is to provide stability and useful insights – not innovation.

Finally, their introversion will likely make them less expressive of their own needs, resulting in them being unhappy. Therefore, this type needs a leader who makes the effort to ask them about their well-being and not take them for granted. Treat them as he invaluable asset they truly are!

The Anxious Warrior

We are sure you have met this kind of employee before; they are always rushing to get something done while insistently complaining about their workload to everyone. They seem to never have enough time and they are usually the ones who struggle to meet deadlines (if they ever do). However, they may compensate that by working longer hours than anyone else and at least make the effort to keep up.

In order to get the most out of this personality, you have to find the underlying cause of their anxiety. It may be because they feel unhappy with their position or their workload.

Your responsibility as a leader is to actively encourage them to improve their work/life balance.

This means organizing their workload in such a way that it doesn’t seem unbearable. However, keep your eyes open for procrastination issues as well and help them overcome them.

The Intense Temperament

Workplace is admittedly a stressful place for everyone more or less. Personalities with lower patience thresholds are the most difficult ones to manage. They may experience sudden bursts of anger or become easily irritated by minor incidents.

This behavior may seem irrational at first but instead of dismissing their anger try to find the source of the irritability. Genuine anger, in most cases, stems from the inability to be heard.

As a good leader, you should take actions to reverse the situation and change your team member’s attitude in a positive way. Chances are, their behavior is greatly influenced by the office environment and poor management. Try listening to them closely and we are confident they will appreciate it!

The first one aims to analyze different employee personalities based on Carl Jung’s theory (renowned psychiatrist/psychoanalyst) and make them applicable to teams and all kinds of working groups for better management. It is ideal if you want to create effective teams that collaborate harmoniously.

The latter classifies people into 6 major categories, the so-called RAISEC model, according to their interests. By using this method you can test and gain a more in-depth knowledge of the office characters and personality types available.

Personality diversity in the workplace can be a driver for success!

By analyzing your own personality traits you will be able to better communicate with your team members and manage them more efficiently. By seeking to understand their unique qualities, you will find out how different personalities can paint a colorful office culture in which everyone thrives.